After the success of my quickly cobbled together saddle pack on a recent bike tour, I decided to build a proper saddle pack from the ground up that would work for carrying my Stratospire 2 tent on the back of my bike.

Bits and pieces

• 500D outdoor waterproof cordura;
• 25mm (1") webbing;
• 25mm (1") side release clips and buckles;
• some grosgrain for tie-outs.

Process

• make a cardboard template to get seat angle, seat post length and tyre clearance right;

• prototype side panels in cardboard and assemble "3d" model;

• produce pattern for top and bottom of bag;

• work out the sewing order;
• build prototype out of Tyvek and test;

• refine and build final version.

Sewing order

• prepare grosgrain tie-outs by tacking ends together;
• pin tie-outs to side panels;
• stitch side straps;
• pin side straps to side panels;
• stitch narrow end of top and bottom panels together (if not cut from one piece);
• stitch webbing to combined top/bottom panel;
• stitch one side panel in starting with tight curve on front-most point of panel and doing top edge - make sure tie outs are in place;
• stitch other side panel starting with tight curve on front-most point of panel and doing top edge;
• stitch bottom edges of side panels;
• add half buckles to end closure webbing and stitch together;

Sewing Notes

• needle used: 14/90;
• thread used: Mettler "extra stark";

Prototype

Building the prototype out of Tyvek taught me a few things:

• my original method of locating the roll top tensioning straps didn't work that well on the bike and made the bag cumbersome to get on and off;
• the webbing that locates the tie-on straps should go all the way over the top and round the bottom to give the most compression options for different loads;
• side stiffeners are not necessary if carrying just the tent, but made out of flexible cutting board they weigh very little and do mean that you also have a couple of cutting boards along;

Final version

This time out of 500d denier:

• side view with tent inside;

• top view with tent inside;

• side view empty;

• top view empty;

• weight - 185g;
• on the bike;

Design goals and principles

One of the key ultra-lightweight camping principles is to design gear to have multiple uses. For the saddle pack, this principle was pursued as follows:

• saddle pack itself replaces the tent's stuff sack;
• straps used on saddle pack are removable so can be used on other things in an emergency or left on the bike when carrying the tent;
• straps can be positioned anywhere around the pack allowing you to decide on the most secure configuration depending on the pack's contents;